Mancini must now retain the Premier League title to safeguard his job following City's shambolic Champions League campaign, according to senior figures at the club.

City failed to win any of their six games in the competition and amassed just three points, missing out on a Europa League spot as they finished bottom of Group D, which is the worst group-phase display by an English club in the competition's history.

That failure has increased the pressure on Mancini to hold on to the title City won last season, with the 48-year-old Italian's future once again the subject of fresh scrutiny, the Daily Mirror reports.

But even if Mancini does lose his job, City have ruled out a move to appoint Mourinho despite the likelihood of the Special One leaving Madrid at the end of this season.

City's chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain chose not to appoint Mourinho as Barcelona boss in 2008 when they worked for the Nou Camp giants, after interviewing him for the vacant role.

The pair cited the former Chelsea manager's aggressive attitude as their reason for not hiring him and instead chose Pep Guardiola, who led the club to 14 trophies in his four-year spell in charge.

Soriano and Begiristain are said to still have reservations about Mourinho's style and combative personality, despite his subsequent successes at Inter Milan and Real, which is why he has no chance of taking over at Eastlands. (ANI[6])